


Lost in Translation

by words_my_voice (dumbledores_army_reject)



Series: Franglais [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, France - Freeform, French, M/M, POV First Person, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-22 01:45:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9576449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dumbledores_army_reject/pseuds/words_my_voice
Summary: Arthur's British.  He lives in London.  He didn’t really expect gain a Irish/French, big eared boyfriend who lives in Brittany, but he plans on keeping him. And they're not going to let distance or language barrier stand in the way.Sequel to Franglais, but can kind of be read on its own?





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am not French and I'm not British either, so forgive me for messing up two cultures (or better yet, correct me in the comments!). 
> 
> Translation for the French at the bottom. Please do review. In whatever language you'd like. :)
> 
> Cieliavalentine did a wonderful drawing of a Valentine's Day AU from this universe! Go look at it, it's beautiful! https://cieliavalentine.tumblr.com/post/157361488005/day-14-valentines-prompt-list-by-dree-bear-im

\- Salut!

\- Sir, yes Sir!

\- The fuck?

\- You said to salute.

\- ... I said “salut”.  It means hi in French.

\- I thought “bonjour” was hi in French?

\- They both are.

\- There are two words for hi?

\- Yes Arthur, English isn’t the only language with synonyms.

\- Fine smart-ass. You can’t blame me so much then for not knowing it.

\- How long were you in France?  And you heard us saying “salut” every day and you still managed to pick nothing up?

\- I learned “we,” “no” and “je voodray oon glass chocola, seal voos play.”

\- “Oui,” “non,” and “je voudrais une glace chocolate, s’il vous plaits”

\- Whatever.

\- Abruti.

\- I know that one!  Gwaine used to call you it all the time.

\- Fine, here’s another word to learn: “prat”

\- That’s not French.

\- Describes you though.

\- :)

\- :) 

* * *

 

I didn’t really expect to come back from spending a summer with my friend Lance’s family in Brittany with a boyfriend, but I had.  A dorky, Irish/French, scrawny, big eared boyfriend.  Who could make my entire day by just appearing in that chat window on my computer.

“Hi Merlin,” I grinned. 

The slightly pixelated Merlin grinned back.  “Bonjour Arthur.  Comment va-tu?”

“God, no more French!  You know I don’t understand it.”

His cheeky smile only grew.  “Oui, et je parle français parce qu’il te ennuie.”

“English, or I’m muting you and you can communicate through sign language or interpretive dance or whatever, I don’t care.”  My threat was somewhat undercut by my smile.

“It’s good for you!” Merlin laughed as he finally became understandable.

“Whatever.”

“It’ll expand your mind.”

“I thought you were always telling me my head was too big already?”

“It’s a dollophead, that what it is.”

“Now that makes no sense in any language.”

Our bantering trailed off into laugher and for a moment we just gazed at each other.

“How are you?” he finally said.

“Fine,” I replied.  “Nothing new.  School is boring, Dad’s being controlling despite the fact that I’m not even living at home, Morgana’s being rebellious to piss him off, and football’s a nice escape.  You?”

“Good.  Uncle Guis has been feeling particularly well, so I haven’t had to help out in the store as much.  Which is good because chemistry this year is slowly killing me with work.”

“I thought you liked chemistry?”

Merlin’s face lit up.  “I love it.  It’s the best, just a ton of work.  I want to study it at université,” he said the last word with the French inflection.  Most of the time his English was perfect, despite his strange mixed accent of Irish and French, but occasionally a French word poked through.  Technically, Merlin was Irish, born and raised there until he was five, but he then had moved to Brittany and now had just as much froggy nationalist pride as any other Frenchman. 

“Have you thought about what you want to study?”

I shook my head.  “Dad wants me to study business, but I’m still not sure.  I may just go with it for lack of a better idea.”

“That’s no good, Arthur.  You’ve got to go for what feels right, for the things you’re passionate about.”

I shrug and smile at him.  “Alright, I’ll keep thinking.”

He gave me a soft smile back. 

“Speaking of things I’m passionate about, are you all set for next week?”

The grin on Merlin’s face practically lit up my entire computer screen.  “Yes!  I’ve got my tickets safely on my desk, I have a guide book to read on the train, and I’m already packed!”

“Already packed?  Bloody hell Merlin, you’re not coming to London until next week!”

“I’m prepared.  The question is are _you_ ready for _me_ to descend on London?”

“Yes.”  Lie.  There was one more thing I had to do that I had been putting off.  Merlin wasn’t to know that though, and I was glad when he didn’t notice my awkward tension and changed the subject.

“Gwaine got fired from _another_ job.  At least he’s stopped working at cafés, otherwise we’d all be banned from all the cafés in town.”

I laughed and leaned back in my chair, happy just to listen to him chatter on.

* * *

 

There was one thing I had to do before Merlin arrived.  A tiny little thing really.  Inform my friends I was gay.  I wasn’t too worried.  Lance knew of course, Leon and Percy would be cool about it, and Val, though a bit of a dick, would probably not do much more than make occasional lewd comments.

Still, I waited until Val was somewhat pissed to start to tell them.  We had gathered in Percy’s dorm room to toast the end of the fall term before break began the next day and most of us headed home.  The other boys were more sober, so I mentally bit the bullet and spoke up in a lull in the conversation.

“So, you know how I spent the last summer with Lance?”

All eyes turned towards me.  Lance’s eyebrows went up. 

“Yeah?” Percy asked.

“Well, ah, I met someone there.”  I tried not to fiddle with my bottle.  “And they’re coming to visit in a couple days.”

“Pendragon you sly dog!” Val clapped me on the back.  “You’ve got a French bird!  Why didn’t you tell us?”

Leon looked more meditative about it.  “Is that why you keep turning away Sophia whenever she comes up to you at parties?”

I gave him a horrified look.  “No, that’s because Sophia’s a psychopath.”

Val flapped a hand and almost knocked over Percy’s collection of soldier figurines that he swore were ‘classic’, not nerdy.  “Whatever.  Tell us about the French bird.  I’ll bet she’s gorgeous.”

Here we go.  “Um, well, that’s the thing.  It’s not a girl.”

There was dead silence for a moment.

“I have a boyfriend,” I said more firmly.  Lance started to grin broadly at me, emboldening me to continue.  “His name is Merlin.  He’ll be staying with me for a couple days.  It’s his first time in London.”

Another pause.

Then Leon finally said, “Oh.  So _that’s_ why you keep turning away Sophia at parties.”

I rolled my eyes.  “No, really Leon, she’s crazy.  Do you remember when she tried to steal some of my hair when we were thirteen?”

“She’s hot though,” Val said.  “Can I have her then?”

“Sure Val.  Whatever.”

Val punched the sky and then wobbled over to Percy’s bed where he flopped down and presumably started sending drunk texts to Sophia.

I glanced around the rest of my friends.  No looks of horror, no distrusted.  A knot in my stomach started to unclench.  Lance was still beaming, and now Percy and Leon had joined him in smiling. 

“Cheers mate,” Percy toasted me.  “You could have told us earlier.  It’s cool that you’ve got someone.  Bring him to the party next week.  We’d like to meet him.”

“Oi!” Leon made a face of mock offence.  “It’s my house and my Halloween party.  I make the inviting.  Do the inviting.  Whatever.”  He turned to me with a serious face.  “Arthur, you are invited to bring your boyfriend to the Halloween party.”  Then he grinned and slung his arm around Lance and Percy.  “And we’ll size him up and see if he’s good enough for you.”

I laughed.

“Hey, I already know him, remember?” Lance replied, shoving Leon. 

“Right.  Can’t believe you kept that a secret from us mate.”

The topic dissolved into other lines of conversation and debates about what to wear for Leon’s fancy dress party on Halloween.  I leaned back, the knot in my stomach tightening again, this time in nervous excitement.

Now all that was left was for Merlin to actually arrive.

* * *

 

Merlin’s train was scheduled to arrive approximately at 4:30PM.  With all likelihood, it would be late, but that didn’t stop me from arriving early at 4 and sitting for half an hour in an uncomfortable plastic seat in the station, trying not to fidget.  Finally, at about 4:43, the arrival of the train was announced and a stream of people appeared, heading for the exit. 

I stood quickly and started fighting my way against the current.  My gaze swept back and forth for a flash of jet black hair, but there were too many people.  I turned back to face the exit, thinking maybe he had slipped past me in the crowd.  But the crowd was thinning now, and there was no gangly Irish-Frenchman.  With a frown, I turned towards the trains again.

And there he was.  To anyone else passing on the platform, he was just a seventeen year old boy, tall and lanky, with pale skin and ears that stuck out just a bit.  A red cotton scarf was wrapped around his neck and there was a battered backpack on one shoulder. To me though, he looked like a daydream that’d stepped into flesh and blood.

Then he turned and saw me and suddenly I was terrified.  I hadn’t seen Merlin in person since the summer.  Despite spending almost the entire time together, we’d only actually got together in a romantic sense on the last day of my stay.  Would things be weird now?  I gulped and grinned and we slowly approached each other.

“Hi,” he said once we reach each other.  His smile was shy and he fiddled with the strap of his backpack.  At least I wasn’t the only one who was nervous.

“Hi,” I said back.  For a moment, we just stood there, looking like nervous idiots, until his smile grew broader and he stepped forward and gave me a chaste kiss.

I laughed, a sudden rush of euphoria coursing through me as I clung to him.  The daydream was suddenly real and was going to be ok.  “Welcome to London!”

Merlin pulled back just far enough to beam at me.  “I can’t believe I’m here!  With you!  I missed you.”

I leaned forward and kissed him again.  “I missed you too.  Now come on.  It’s time you learned how awesome British culture is, you French snob.”

* * *

 

“God it’s nice to have a metro,” Merlin commented, wide-eyed.  “I’ve been on the Paris one, but out in the country we’re stuck if you don’t have a car or a bike.  And the buses always run at bizarre times.”

“It’s the tube, Merlin.  Not the metro,” I corrected him with a laugh.  With each turn of the car we bumped into each other, enjoying the physical contact.

“Same thing,” he rolled his eyes.

“Not the same thing!  When I’m in France you tried to teach me French words, so now you’re here it’s fair I teach you British-isms.”

“But you didn’t actually pick up any of the French words.”

“Doesn’t matter.  It’s the principle of the thing.”

“Fine.  The _tube_.”

When we reached my stop, we hurried out onto the street and up into the autumn air.  Merlin had managed to pack everything into just his environmental button covered backpack, so there was no luggage to carry and we were free to hold hands.

“So, it’s just your dad and your sister,” Merlin practiced as we approached the house.  “Your dad is an executive at a bank and he is very stern and no nonsense.  And your sister is Morgana, and she’s actually your step-sister but her mum’s in America?”

“Right.”

“And she’s a couple months older than you.”

“Exactly.”

Merlin was silent for a few strides, swinging our joined hands back and forth.  “And neither of them know you’re gay.”

I squeezed his hand.  “Yeah.  I’m sorry, but we’ll have to just act like mates when Dad or Morgana’s around.  Dad is really conservative.  He’d go mental if he found out.  And I don’t really know if Morgana would have my back.  We’re not always exactly supportive of each other.  I... just don’t quite feel ready yet.”

Merlin squeezed my hand back.  “I understand,” he said softly.  After a pause he added, “What about when we’re with your friends?”

“They know, so it’s fine.  But it’s a little new to them so they might have to get used to it.  But they’re all great guys.”

Merlin gave me a warm smile.  “Ok then.”

When we finally reached the house, we let go of each other’s hands so I could let us in.  I realized it was the first time since Merlin had kissed me on the platform that we did not have any physical contact.  And as much as I wanted to retake Merlin’s hand, suddenly even that innocent gesture was off limits.

“Putain de merde!” Merlin said when he stepped inside.  “Your house is huge!”

“Yeah,” I said uncomfortably as I led him up the stairs.  “Since there’s only three of us, it feels constantly empty.  Plus Morgana and I spend most of the time away at school and Dad off on business.”

One of the guest rooms a few doors down from me had been prepared by the housekeeper the day before.  It was a nice room, cream walls and bedding, a soft carpet, a large four-poster, and even a desk and a set of drawers off to the side with a vase of flowers set on top.  Even so, Merlin looked a little doubtful as he took in the sight.

“I guess I’ll be staying in here then,” he said in a carefully cheerful voice.  “I mean, I don’t want to make things seem suspicious for your dad.”

I stepped up behind him and slid my hands around his waist.  “Well, Dad’s really busy and a bit oblivious sometimes,” I whispered in his ear, enjoying his shiver.  “This is just for pretense.  You can sneak out at night and sleep in my room if you want.”

Merlin turned in my arms and gave me a wicked grin.  “That sounds excellent.”

* * *

 

Merlin’s things were all set up in the guest room by the time Dad got home and we were playing video games on the couch.  We jumped up as soon as we heard him come in.  Dad paused as soon as he saw Merlin.

“Dad, this is my friend, Merlin Emrys.  From France?  He’s here to visit for the week, remember?”

He finally nodded, though his face didn’t change from its cool expression.  I could tell he was eyeing Merlin’s jeans, ratty trainers, and less than fashionable scarf.

“Welcome Merlin.”  He held out a hand for Merlin to shake.  “It’s nice to have friend of Arthur’s staying with us.  I’ll clear my evening and we can have a family dinner.”

With that decree, he turned and disappeared into his office.

I let out a breath.  “Well that wasn’t so bad.”

Merlin stared at me with huge eyes.  “Merde, you told me your dad was scary, but I didn’t actually believe you until now.”

I glanced at the office door to make sure it was closed, then slipped my hand around Merlin’s waist and kissed him on the cheek.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.  We only have to get though dinner.”

Dinner could have gone worse.  Then again, it could have gone better too.  Morgana was fascinated by Merlin.  She tried out her school French on him for a few minutes before Dad shut that down, only to start quizzing Merlin on his life.

“What are you from originally?”

“Ireland, sir.”

“What do your parents do?”

“Mum’s a receptionist.  My uncle runs a general store.  Dad’s not in the picture.”

“How did you meet Arthur?”

“I’m friends with Lance Dulac.”

“Are you studying for university?”

“Yes.”

“What do you plan to do there?”

“Chemistry.”

That seemed to please Dad.  He nodded his head.  He was after me to study business, but a hard science seemed acceptable as well.

“Either that or environmental stuff,” Merlin added.  I smiled.  Merlin’s feelings on the environment no secret, particularly since he’d spent the past summer reminding me to recycle at every opportunity. 

Dad frowned.  “So you’re not planning on being a doctor?”

Merlin looked confused.  “No?”

Dad hummed and gave me a look.  He returned his attention to his meal.  Morgana jumped in to ask Merlin if he had any embarrassing stories about me trying to navigate Britany.  I sighed.  Well there went Dad’s approval for Merlin.  Just the other day he’d gone on a rant about environmentalists being crackpots.

* * *

 

The rest of the week passed in a happy blur.  Dad didn’t instate any more family dinners so we only had to avoid Morgana to eat together in peace.  Merlin and I wandered around London playing tourist.  He oohed and ahhed at Westminster and the Globe, but turned his nose up at a museum we went to.

“French ones are better,” he said before I poked him in the ribs.

The night of Leon’s party, I dragged a nervous Merlin with.

“Why are you being shy?  You’re the one who was teasing me five minutes into meeting me!”

“I know,” he said, biting his lip.  He was dressed in a black cape and a Hogwarts scarf.  We stole Morgana’s lipstick to draw a lightning bolt on his forehead.  Considering we threw the costume together at the last minute, he looked pretty good.  I’m dressed as a knight, the same costume I wore to Leon’s party last year.

“It’s just…” he hesitated before finally saying.  “There was no pressure then.  But now it’s a big deal.  These are your friends and their posh and what if they don’t like me and—”

I cut him off with a kiss.  “It’ll be fine.”

Ten minutes into the party and Merlin as already getting along with my friends.  He and Leon were engaged in a fierce arguments about the merits of Hufflepuff house.  The shots Percy offered Merlin when we first arrived might have helped.  When Merlin turned to be for backup, I raised my hands in surrender.

“I’m staying out of it.”

“Coward!” Merlin called after me as I went to get another drink.

Two girls were murmuring to each other as I passed them in the kitchen.

“Who’s the guy with dark hair?  The Harry Potter?”

“I don’t think he goes to our school.  I think he’s came with Arthur.”  They didn’t seem to have noticed me.

“Really?  I thought Arthur was posher than that?”

“I dunno.  He’s kinda cute.”

“If you go for that sort of thing.”

I kept my jaw from tensing.  Yeah, Merlin and I came from very different backgrounds, but I always seemed to forget that.  He definitely didn’t treat me any differently, so why should I treat him any differently?  He got along with me, Lance, Percy, and Leon.  He could fit into this world just as well as anyone.

I passed the girls, purposely brushing them so they’d see me as I returned to the couch, shoved my way into the spot next to Merlin, and turned his face to mine for a kiss.  He grinned when we broke apart, clearly not too annoyed I’d interrupted his conversation.

“What was that for?” he smiled as Percy wolf whistled behind him.

“Can’t I find you sexy?”

Merlin raised his eyebrows and looked me up and down with a heated look.  “Careful what you wish for Pendragon.” 

As soon as we got back to my room with the door closed, Merlin pushed me down on the bed.

“If this is supposed to be a warning for calling you sexy, I don’t think it’s working very well,” I smirked as we tried to get his cape off.

“Shut up,” Merlin grinned back and leaned in to kiss me.  I gasped and arched my back when his hand slid under my shirt.

We’d been slow to get our act together in France and that combined with the distance meant we hadn’t had time to go very far with each other, just rutting against each other and mutual hand jobs.  Maybe that was part of why Merlin’s hand on my dick once we’d finally gotten each other’s clothes off.  Maybe it was just the fact that I had Merlin pressed tight against me, working my dick with just the right pressure and a twist at the end.

After I’d shuddered out an orgasm and managed to clean it up with tissues, Merlin and I returned to kissing the hell out of each other.  Still hard, he ground against my hip with little gasps and whimpers.  I was about to reach for him, but it didn’t seem like enough.

Instead, I trailed kisses down Merlin’s chest, pausing to nip at each rib.

“What are you—?”

“I apologize if I’m not great at this,” I said, then opened my mouth and sank down on Merlin’s dick.

Merlin threw his head back.  “Oh my god!”

I’d blown a guy once before, but we’d both been pissed and it was a foggy memory.  I opened my throat as my as I could and tried to remember everything I’d learned from porn.  I stroked what I couldn’t’ reach.  Whatever I was doing seemed to be working.  Merlin was whimpering and pressing the side of his face into the pillow.

“Shit, bordel de merde, Arthur!”

I tried curling my tongue around his dick as I bobbed up and down.

“Arth—” Merlin gasped just as he came.

I choked a little but managed to swallow.

“Sorry, sorry!” Merlin gasped.  “It happened so fast.”

I couldn’t help but start giggling. 

“What?” Merlin frowned at me, barely restraining his own giggles.

“That tasted really weird.”

Merlin clapped a hand over his mouth and burst out into muffled laughter.  In retaliation, I crawled up the bed and tried to kiss him.

“No, no, tu es completement débile!  You don’t get to kiss me after insulting my dick!”

“I didn’t say your dick tasted weird, I said your cum did!” I pecked him with kisses wherever I could reach.

Merlin shoved me off.  “Go rinse your mouth, then I’ll kiss you.”

I responded with a two fingered salute and pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms from the floor.  Merlin’s laughter followed me out into the hallway.

“Arthur?”

I froze.  In the remainder of our alcohol induced buzz and giddiness with each other, we’d forgotten to be quiet.  I could only thank God Dad was away that night.

Morgana stood in the hallway staring at me.  There was no point denying it.  I didn’t have to see myself to know I looked wrecked.  I was dressed in only jogging bottoms, and my hair must have been standing up in all directions, my lips bruised from the kissing. 

There was a long pause.

“Please don’t tell Dad.” 

I’d hardly realized I’d said it.  It didn’t even sound like my voice, just a strangled whisper.  Morgana blinked.  I swallowed and waited for her verdict, unable to get every time she had tattled on me to Dad just for spite out of my head.

Then, slowly, she nodded.  “Okay,” she murmured back.  Then she disappeared back into her room.

I ran to the bathroom, rinsed my face and mouth, then hurried back to Merlin.  He’d bundled himself in the duvet, just his head and a tuft of dark hair sticking out.  When he saw me he sat up.

“Is everything ok?” he asked with a concerned look.

I just crawled in beside him and buried my face in his neck.  “Yeah.  Yeah I think so.”

The next morning when Dad returned, Morgana didn’t say a thing.

* * *

 

Merlin was back in France, chatting with me on Skype, when I finally voiced the thought that had been fluttering about in the back of my head since he’d visited.  Since I’d gotten to wake up in the morning curled around him and not a body of water away.

“Have you thought at all about going to uni in the UK?”

Merlin laughed, then quickly sobered when he saw I wasn’t smiling back.  “Oh.  You’re not kidding.”

“Never mind.”

“No, Arthur, I’m sorry.  I’ve just never thought about it.  Um, school in the UK?  Wow.”

“We have some of the best universities in the world.”

“So does France.”

“I just thought, maybe you’d like a change.  You could get back to your heritage.”

Merlin leveled a look at me.  “Arthur, I’m Irish, not British.  Wars have been fought over the distinction.”

“But it could be nice to take your classes all in English for a change.  Be easier.”

“It’d be easier for you, you mean,” replied Merlin in a carefully measured tone.  “I’ve been taking classes in French since I was five.”

“But, it’s just that it’s so far, and it’s a chance to be closer together for a change.”

Merlin’s voice was frosty.  “I’ve had my heart set on studying chemistry at the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University for years, since you didn’t ask.”

I cast around quickly for a university I knew of that had a good chemistry program.  “If you want to go to Ireland, I think Trinity in Dublin has a very good chemistry program.”

“Arthur, are you listening to yourself?  Dublin is much farther away!  You can make it from London to Paris in under three hours!  Especially if you take the Eurostar.”

“Yeah, but it’s expensive, so that means you won’t.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just mean, I could lend you money to come more often if you weren’t so proud to take it.”

“So proud?  Look, if you’re so desperate about this, how about you come study in France?  Paris has excellent business schools or whatever boring thing you want to do.”

“I don’t speak French, you—”

“And I do, yeah, yeah.  But you know what?  I am French.  And I’m not changing everything I worked for, and certainly not because you decided it’d be a good idea without talking to me first.”

Tension lingered even as we tried to change the subject.  We finally hung up five minutes later, each with a terse goodbye.

* * *

 

It was only nine AM Christmas morning, and already was the worst Christmas ever.  Dad had some business trip that couldn’t be postponed, so we’d had the traditional stilted exchange of gifts a few days early and now Morgana and I were left to our own devices.

“Happy Christmas,” I said as she wandered into the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas.

“And nothing says Christmas like cold cereal,” she grumbled back, grabbing a bowl and spoon.

“You can make something else if you want.  I guess we could make our own Christmas dinner of sorts?”

Morgana waved a hand.  “I’m going over to Eira’s house.  I’ll probably be there until late.”  And she breezed out of the kitchen. 

“Oh.”  I sat alone in the kitchen.  Some Christmas.  My plans for the day now looked like playing video games, getting take-away, avoiding the homework I’d been set over break, and watching the Christmas specials on TV.  Great.

With nothing better to do, I wandered about my room, then flopped back on the bed.  Downstairs the front door shut and the house was very, very quiet.  I toyed with the idea of calling Leon and asking if I could come over, but he’d be busy with family and honestly, spending hours making small talk with strangers sounded no better than being alone.

What to do?  Read one of the books Dad had given me for Christmas?  Or go out and buy myself a Christmas present with some of the money Uncle Agravaine gave me?

Wait.

I launched off the bed and pull out the box underneath it.  Inside was the money from Uncle Agravaine, from birthdays and Christmases past, and that I saved from working part of the previous summer.  I counted it quickly.  Then I smiled.  It was enough.

I had a few pairs of clothes in my backpack and was out the door on the way to train station even before I had finished writing a text to Morgana telling her where I was going.

 

The train ride to Brittany was _long_.  I’d forgotten that from last time.  I dozed, listened to music, flipped through a book, but mostly stared out the window at the grey sky, eager to get there.  And nervous.  Lance’s family had offered for me to come for Christmas before term ended, but I had turned them down, thinking Dad would demand some awkward family gathering.  I really hoped the offer would still stand even if I just showed up without warning.  I debated texting Lance or Merlin, but I wanted to hold out hope it would be ok for a little while longer.  The more time passed, the easier it was to tell myself that, even when a text came from Merlin wishing me happy Christmas and asking if I wanted to Skype later and open presents.

At the station, I had to catch a cab to Merlin and Lance’s village.  I hadn’t thought about that, last time Lance had driven me to and from the station, and it took a while to find a very disgruntled taxi driver who was not so disgruntled that he wouldn’t take me. 

The cabbie dropped me off at the outskirts of the village and sped off to his family, grumbling something I was pretty sure was offensive about English people.  I sighed and hoisted my bag on my shoulder.

It had snowed.  The whole village was incredibly picturesque.  I couldn’t help but smile as I walked the quiet streets, even as doubt continued to poke me in the stomach. 

What was I supposed to say?  “Hello, just thought I’d impose upon you”?

And what would Merlin think?  Everything was mostly fine since our uni fight, but there was still an undercurrent of tension when we talked.  That even though we kept things light and teasing, there was always the reminder that we belonged to different worlds.  And here I was intruding on his.

I stopped once I reached the town center, shuffling my feet to keep them warm and looking around.  Though I’d gotten pretty familiar with the village’s layout the previous summer, the snow disguised the shapes of the buildings.  I was just debating which road to take, when I heard voices.

To my shock, Merlin and Lance came walking around a corner, chatting happily to each other in French.  Lance had his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched against the cold, but Merlin, Merlin was bright-eyed, with brilliant red spots highlighting each cheekbone, and wearing a knit cap that hid his ears and a ridiculously long Fourth Doctor scarf.  He was the most wonderful sight I had ever seen.

Merlin seemed to be in the middle of a story, gesturing wildly with his hands that sported fingerless gloves, but then his gaze landed on me and all the expression on his face fell away.

Lance paused when Merlin did and looked around to see what was the matter.  His mouth fell open when he saw me.  Both stared, expressions stunned.

“Um,” I raised a hand a little.  “Happy Christmas?”

Then Merlin was launching himself at me with a scream of delight.  “Arthur!”  He hit me so hard I almost toppled over in the snow, but I was too busy wrapping my arms around him to care.  It was the complete opposite of our awkward greeting in the London train station.

“You’re here!” Merlin beamed, squeezing me tightly and babbling.  “I can’t believe it!  You didn’t tell me!  Why didn’t you tell me?  I could have picked you up!  You dollophead.  This is so brilliant!”

I laughed.  “I didn’t know I was coming until I halfway to the station this morning.  Dad’s away on the business trip and spending Christmas alone in the house seemed too depressing.”  I pulled back from Merlin just far enough to cup his cheek.  “And I thought this would be the place to have a wonderful Christmas.”

Merlin’s smile went misty and he kissed me soundly.

There was a slight cough, and we turned to a temporarily forgotten Lance, who was grinning.  “Jouyeux noel, Arthur,” he said.  “Bienvenu.”

I let go of Merlin to give him a hug and a slap on the back.  “I don’t suppose it’s too late for me to take you up on your offer to stay with your family?”

“Absolutely not,” Merlin said, grabbing my hand.  “You’re staying with me.  You can meet Mum!”  When I looked slightly scared at the prospect, he added, “She makes better baked apples than anyone in the world.  And she’ll love you.”

Merlin was right.  His mum was a kind-faced Irish woman who welcomed me with a hug, instructed me to call her Hunith, and practically force-fed me baked apples with cinnamon and ice cream.  Lance stayed for a while, then left with a goodnight and a promise to come by tomorrow.

“I think it’s best to start getting ready for bed,” Hunith finally said.  “Arthur must be tired from his trip.”

“Arthur can sleep in my room,” Merlin piped up.

Hunith shot a pointed look at him.  “No.  Arthur will sleep on the sitting room couch.  And don’t get any ideas about sneaking around later.  I never fixed that squeaky board outside your bedroom door for a reason, Merlin.”

Merlin grumbled but he helped gather blankets and pillows for me to convert their squishy and very comfortable sofa into a bed.  We stayed up a while longer talking before Hunith finally shooed Merlin to bed, saying we were too loud to let her sleep.

We gave each other a soft kiss goodnight, and I burrowed under the blankets.  Through the window, I could see a few flakes starting to drift by.  They grew thicker as I watched for a while.  The house was completely silent, but unlike mine had been this morning, felt warm and full.  I smiled and closed my eyes ready to drift off to sleep.

At that moment though, I heard a few soft footsteps and a hand shook my shoulder.  When I opened my eyes, I found Merlin leaning over me.

“We never opened gifts,” he whispered.

“That’s right!” I threw off the blankets and retrieved my bag.  The flat, thick package Merlin had sent me was at the very bottom.  When I made to sit back on the sofa though, Merlin stopped me.

“Come on,” he grinned.  “It’s safe.  You can come to my room now.”

“Won’t your mum hear us?”

“Please.  I mastered sneaking around the squeaky floor board years ago.  Just step where I step.”

With muffled giggles and not a small amount of careful balancing, we made it back to Merlin’s room without triggering any squeaks and shut the door.

Immediately, we were wrapped around each other.  With Lance and Hunith about, we hadn’t had a chance for a proper snog.  Merlin’s hands tangled in my hair, and I wrapped one hand around his waist, the other trailing up the warm skin of his back under his shirt.

We only stopped when we swayed dangerously and nearly toppled over.  When we regained our balanced, Merlin pulled me over to his bed and we settled onto the coverlet.

“On the count of three?” Merlin said after he retrieved the Christmas package I’d sent him from his very disorganized desk.

On three we both tore into our gifts.  Merlin had to clap a hand over his mouth to keep from bursting out into peals of laughter when he saw the mug I’d bought him.  It read “I like my tea like I like my men: Hot and British.” 

“Confident much?”

With a stretch of my arms I grinned.  “It’s true isn’t it?”

Merlin stuck his tongue out at me.  “I’m not going to indulge your already fat head.”  But I noticed his eyes were glued to my shoulders as I flexed them. 

The flat package turned out to be a book of very rude French phrases and their translations.  I flipped through it while Merlin squealed quietly and admired the “Keep Calm and Allons’y” tee-shirt that I’d managed to fold in the mug.

“This is amazing,” I grinned at him.  “Where does it teach you to say, ‘Suck a dick’?”

“Page 19 or something I think,” Merlin said with a wink.

I flipped to that page and attempted to make sense of the jumble of letters.  “How the hell am I supposed to say that?”

Merlin put the mug and tee-shirt on the bedside table.  “It’s not that hard.  It’s got phonetic spelling to help you.  Just don’t bastardize it with your English accent too much.”  When I gave him a mock scowl, he pulled the book out of my hands and also set it aside.  “Start with ‘merde’.  That one’s easy.  And useful.”

“Merde?”

“Not bad.  Mean’s ‘shit’.”

“Useful indeed,” I grinned.  I tugged at his hand.  “Thank you for the book.”

Merlin returned the smile.  “Thank you for the mug and the shirt.  And... and for coming.”

“You didn’t mind me showing up with no warning?”

He shook his head and brushed aside a lock of my hair.  “No.  It was a perfect Christmas surprise.  I always like seeing you.”

“Really?”  A broad smile spread over my face.

“Really.”  Something came over Merlin’s face and he suddenly became shy, turning his gaze and fiddling with a bit of ribbon that was on the bed.

“What?” I asked nervously.

“I—” A flush crept up Merlin’s cheeks.  “I have another present.  If you want.  Well it’s not really a present.  It’s a thing.  Not a thing.  A doing thing.  Maybe it’s weird to say it’s a present.  And you don’t have to.  You really don’t have to if you don’t want.  I mean—”

“Merlin, what the hell are you going on about?”

“Do you want to have sex?  Like actual sex?  Anally?”

In his awkwardness, it came out very rushed and very blunt.  My mouth dropped open.

“Are you serious?”

Merlin was well on his way to turning scarlet now.  “Yeah.  It just seemed... like the right time?  To, well, go all the way?  If you want.  You don’t have—”

He stopped speaking abruptly when I hauled him to me and kissed him.  We were completely off balance, the angle was wrong, and I was basically holding Merlin up, but I didn’t care. 

“Of course you idiot, I want to,” I whispered when we separated for air.  “Ok.  If you’re sure.”

Movies always make having sex for the first time look magical and easy.  In reality, it was anything but.

“Ouch,” I whispered as Merlin’s elbow got me in the side for the _fourth_ time.  “How many limbs do you have?”

“It’s not my fault you’re not doing enough to help get our clothes off,” Merlin whispered back, even as he went a little breathless from the kisses I was trailing along his jawline. 

 “Ok,” I murmured back, unable to keep my mouth from continuing its way down his pale neck as he moaned softly.

There were also the awkward practical bits, like Merlin having to get up to find lube and a box of condoms from the back of a drawer, and the required conversation about who would take which position.  It was decided that Merlin would bottom once he mentioned he was well acquainted with his vibrator.

I got a bit distracted by that visual, and we dissolved back into hands groping wildly everywhere and gasping openmouthed kisses.

Merlin hissed when I slipped the first finger into him.  He clung to me and buried his face in my shoulder as I murmured apologies into his skin.  By the second finger he was rocking his hips back and forth, grinding against me and making me breathless.  A few clumsy attempts and I managed to find his prostate.

Merlin gasped and threw his head back.

“Yes.  God yes, Arthur.  Right there.”

Soon Merlin was whimpering against my mouth, driving me mad with want from the constant grind of his hips.

“Please,” I choked out.  “Please say you’re ready.”

Merlin’s voice was just as wrecked.  “Yes, yes, please Arthur now.”

Earlier, I had halfheartedly mentioned that it would probably be easier if Merlin was on his stomach.  Now though, both of us were reluctant to turn our faces away from each other.  Instead, Merlin propped his hips up on a pillow while I put on the condom.  Then he curled one leg around me and I slowly pushed in.

For a moment neither of us could breathe.  The heat and the physical sensation combined with an utter onslaught of emotion kept me from doing anything but murmur, “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”

“Move Arthur,” Merlin gasped and we slowly began rocking together.  For what felt like an eternity, the entire world narrowed to just my body thrusting into Merlin’s, his legs around my waist driving me even deeper, and our hushed moans against each other’s lips.  The sensations spiraled to a dizzying height before I came, barely keeping myself from crying out and waking Merlin’s mum.  A few more thrusts and a hand on Merlin’s cock was enough to come too, biting his lip and digging his fingernails into my back.

We were both panting.  Nervously, I raised my head from where it had collapsed on Merlin’s chest.  He was grinning at me and ran a hand through my hair.  I couldn’t help but surge up to kiss him.

“I really am glad you’re here,” Merlin whispered.

“I am too,” I murmured back.  “I miss you so much.  All the time.”

After a few moments of silence in which we simply gazed at each other, I squeezed him tightly.  “And I’m sorry about the Uni thing.”

Merlin smiled softly.  “It’s ok.  I got overly defensive.”

“And I didn’t think about your feelings.”  I paused, summoning up some courage.  “I... I just want us to work.  And I’m scared of the distance.”

One of Merlin’s hands brushed through my hair again and he looked very serious.  “Me too.”

He continued to card his fingers through my hair while the tension faded and returned to comfortable warmth.

“Why do you keep doing that?” I smiled.

 “Your hair’s a mess.”

“Well you’re sticky.”  

We grinned at each other like idiots.

“You’re a prat.”

“And you’re still sticky.”

“You’re going to make me clean us up aren’t you?”

“Well I don’t know where you keep tissues and things!”

“Fine dollophead,” grumbled Merlin with a smile as he pushed me off and rolled out of bed.

“Still not a word,” I replied with a grin, enjoying the chance to ogle his backside.

Once we were clean, we lay tangled together beneath the blankets.  Merlin was trying to teach me seasonal French words, while I played with his fingers.

“Un arbre de noel.”

“A Christmas tree.”

“Les flocons de neige.”

“Eggnog?”

“No, prat,” Merlin whacked me playfully.  “Snowflakes.  Are you paying attention.”

“Not really.  I like paying attention to your fingers better.”

He scowled at me and I grinned.

“Fine.  Do another.”

“Les anges.”

“Angels?”

“Je t’aime.”

I stilled.  “I know that one.”

Merlin’s face was full of careful fear before he buried it in the pillow.  “Is it too soon to say that?”

My heart seemed to be missing every other beat but I managed to stammer out, “No, you’re French.  You’re rash and romantic.”

I saw a hint of a smile peaking out from under the mop of dark hair.  My own nervousness melted away as I turned my body towards him and pulled him closer.

“I love you too,” I whispered.

He grinned and burrowed into my side.  “Best Christmas ever,” he murmured sleepily.

I couldn’t help but agree and hold him tighter.  The future still loomed.  Maybe we wouldn’t make it much longer.  Maybe we would.  But for now it was Christmas, it was snowing, and we were together.

That was enough.

What was it Merlin would say? 

C’est la vie.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be the second part in a trilogy. I do not however, have any idea when I'll post the third part. Sorry!
> 
>  
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Salut/Bonjour - Informal hi vs formal hello
> 
> Oui - Yes
> 
> Non - Non
> 
> Je voudrais une glace chocolate, s'il vous plaits. - I would like a chocolate ice cream please.
> 
> Abruti - Moron
> 
> Comment va-tu? - How are you? (Informal)
> 
> Oui, et je parle français parce qu’il te ennuie. - Yes, and I speak French because it annoys you.
> 
> Putain de merde! - Fucking shit!
> 
> Bordel de merde - Holy shit
> 
> Tu es completement débile! - You're a complete idiot!
> 
> Jouyeux noel - Merry Christmas
> 
> Bienvenu - Welcome
> 
> Je t’aime. - I love you.
> 
> C’est la vie. - That's life


End file.
